Kaiapoi training opportunity

Press, 16 July 1986, Page 39

Kaiapoi training opportunity

The Kaiapoi Pony Club’s jumping training day on July 26 will provide great basic training for less experienced horses, ponies and riders and good schooling for the advanced.

The programme has a new look. A jumping unit class has been planned using trotting cavalettis, cantering grids and small fences to test a horse's smoothness, rhythm and approach to jumping at the trot and canter. This should help inexperienced riders at their first outing. The course for the training ring and competitions in the afternoon will be built by Mary Snoep. She will be assisted by Shirley Topp. It will be supervised throughout the morning by Jill Woodham. The fences will start about 18 inches and be built up to the height required by advanced competitors. There will be a novelty jump where riders may be asked to jump a variety of different, surprising and interesting obstacles. This course will give the junior committee plenty of room to use their imaginations.

A new type of jumping event, American Showhunter classes, is being promoted by the Horse Society Showjumping Discipline. The organising sub-committee is John Cottle, David Murdoch and Maree McAleer. With their support and enthusiasm this should be an interesting and new approach for jumping riders. Locally, Jennifer Stobart has provided the junior committee with the rules, specifications and course plans required.

These events are from the United States, where they are tremendously successful. They are used to develop smoother, safer, jumping and horses with balance and confidence.

They also encourage sens!-

tive, effective riding and provide competitions for less aggressive and inexperienced riders and horses.

They provide a valuable schooling area for the experienced horse which has reached its limits in show jumping or eventing and are a wonderful teaching experience for the inexperienced rider.

The course is solid and attractive with easy turns and related distances between the fences. The novelty, jumping unit and American Showhunter will all be run at varying heights.

On July 13 at the Kaiapoi Pony Club’s grounds C-plus certificate examinations were held. Mrs L. Meares, Miss S. Cowey and Mr S. Woods were the examiners.

Two riders, Tracey Richards and Shirley Topp, are congratulated on their passes.

More on horses and riders selected for the Haig dressage competition: ® Hirondelle and Wynnis McDonald are from Winton, Southland. They have built an enviable reputation, having had 52 wins in Medium Tests during the last three years. In the 1984-85 and 1985-86 season they finished fourth in the Beanabah Points Prize.

After being first-equal in the Haig last year, Hirondelle won the Hush Trophy for Prix St George at the Canterbury A. and P. Show. After this he won the Otago dressage championship for the third year in a row, and the Southland championship for advanced medium horses. Hirondelle is a rich chestnut T.B. gelding rising 12 years old. He is by Persian Hope out of Queen of Travee, and was bred by McDonald.

® Mountbatten and Megan Harvey are from Hastings. Mountbatten, a bay seveneighths T.B. gelding standing at 16.1hh, is aged 13. Mountbatten has competed in the Haig dressage competition for the last three years. During the 1985-86 season he had 10 wins in medium. He won the North Island championship and was third in the Rlgoletto Trophy. Harvey has -been concentrating on dressage during the last 11 years, after riding actively throughout her pony club years, and competing at four pony club championships.

The Trusteebank Canterbury Sprihgston Trophy, 1986 — clubs and branches please note that entries close on or before July 20. No late entries will be accepted. To compete in the Springston Trophy teams event a rider must have been a member of the branch for which he or she is competing for 90 days before the first day of the competitions.

Horse and ponies must be aged 5 from August 1, 1986. Dressage test: Classes 1 and 2: New Zealand Horse Society

Preliminary Test (8). Class 3; New Zealand Horse Society Preliminary Test (6).

Please watch this column for more information.

Horses and ponies can be registered annually by sending the appropriate forms with fees and levies to the Show Jumping Director, P.O. Box 51-117, Tawa, by August

The show jumping director will send the owner a registration sticker for his or her grading card. Each registration must be on the right form. Do not send your grading card. Please contact the grading officer in your area if you require a registration form. Canterbury: Mrs J. Hutton, 5 Bradnor Road, Christchurch. Phone 519-688.

Horses and ponies will be deemed not registered until the levy and registration fee have been received by the director. The owners of horses and ponies being sold, changing names, transferring areas or retiring must notify the director. Levies for the 1986-87 season, including GST, are: Horses: Grade A $46.60; grade B $35.80; grade C $24.90; novice $14.10.

Ponies: Grade A $24.90; grade B $16.30; grade C $11.90; novice $7.60.

Show hunters: The fee for the 1986-87 season will be $5.40, including GST. .Show hunters’ registrations are included on the same form as show jumpers.

The Brackenfield hunter trials will be held on July 27 at Mr and Mrs J. Saviil’s property at Amberley because of cancellations.

Windsor Pony Club one-day horse trials will be held on July 27 starting 9 a.m. Entries will be accepted no later than Friday, July 18. Please contact the secretary for inquiries.

HORSE

TALK